Awakening
by Rera
Summary: This is just a short simple story about Cloud and Tifa


Awakening  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of Squares characters or other stuff  
  
His eyes were fooled by the swirling vapour all around. He ran forwards, followed his nature, didn't turn left of right, didn't hesitate. Running not from fear, but simply because he must. The sun began to break through the mist, and he ran faster, rawness in his lungs, fire in his muscles. He burst out through the earthbound clouds and in an instant they disappeared. The golden ball I front of him was visible in all it glory, illuminating the seascape below him. His momentum threw him off the cliff and his body spun around in slow motion. His breathing was slow, crawling inside him. It felt like being destroyed by some internal disease. His slow descent began. He was going to be gone, gone for good. He looked up as the cliff ledge slowly began to rise above him. Aeris was there, her face injured by sorrow and shock. That expression hurt him more than a physical blow, and he fell faster. In his soul, he was about to give in to despair. Now it was too late to fight, to hope, even to try. The air was streaming around him; he was prepared to die.   
Suddenly there was a blur above him, and something was catching up with him in the air. Tifa. She had dived off the cliff after him. How could it be possible to feel such joy, and yet so much pain? Tifa had come to him, but now she would die too. She was falling with her arms open, and her eyes locked on to his. It appeared like she was just floating down to him from heaven, but this deceptive illusion hid the fact that they were both hurtling to their deaths. He reached out too, and they met in the air. For a moment he just held her and looked into here eyes. Everything was all right; she was with him. Not even death could stop him from loving her.  
Then they hit the ground, hard, and the instant let him feel the agony of splintered bones through his skin. It was enough to wake him.  
Cloud found himself lying flat on his back, with his clenched fingers digging into the dit, Every muscle in his body was tensed up, expecting to have been dead by now. He tried to relax his jaw, and remember how to exhale. He got up stiffly. When he had fallen asleep, he hadn't even removed his sword. After a stretch, his protesting vertebrae agreed to line up properly again. He looked around and realised that he was in Cosmo Canyon. Where was everyone? The last thing he remembered was staring into the eternal flame that was Cosmo Canyon's trademark, while the others had drifted off to bed. Tifa had gone away first. For some reason, his company had made her uncomfortable. Damn! Defeating Sephorith wasn't enough to sort out his life. An even bigger challenge now awaited him. He knew for sure, but how could he tell her? She was perfect; she was the one. In the past he had failed her, so why should he believe he deserved her now? He sat down cross legged, and remembered why he had been moodily starring into the flames in the first place. There was a footstep behind him.  
"Tifa?"  
"How did you guess?"  
The flickering light made her even more beautiful. But to him it was about more than just her physical appearance. She was special; he could feel it in her presence. He again got to his feet. "I just had the weirdest dream..."  
"What was it about?" But he just shook his head. How could he tell her about that? It would give the game away He couldn't tell her; he could live with just her friendship, rather than risk scaring her away. He was resigned to his fate.  
Tifa knew from looking at him that he didn't feel like communicating. But it didn't matter any more. She had to tell him. Even his elusiveness enthralled her. Now may not be the perfect time, she thought, but she just couldn't hang on any more. The perfect time might never happen; she just had to risk it. She had to risk everything. She stepped up to him. "Cloud, I've got to tell you..."  
She put her hands on his shoulders. He didn't move away. He couldn't. Her touch filled him with paralysing electricity. He wanted to wrap his arms around her, but he didn't. He couldn't believe what was happening; couldn't believe it was real.  
She spoke again. She said it simply. She said it once. As she opened her heart her gaze slid to the ground. Should she be ashamed of what she was admitting? She looked up into the most penetrating stare she had ever seen. He wasn't smiling-just drinking in her soul with those blue ice eyes. His expression softened a little, as he unfroze enough to look more like he felt. He reached for her face. He had to move slowly in case he woke up again. She let herself be drawn into the kiss. I t was long and tender, and well worth the years of waiting. Afterwards, he spoke to her while they embraced. He said to her what she had said to him. He couldn't see her face but he knew how she felt. He could feel joy under her skin, and it travelled through his finger tips. And they stayed there in that moment, under that sky and spent a lifetime just holding each other. 


End file.
